Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
RFC 1906 - 5.3. Discussion of AppleTalk Addressing

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### 5.3. Discussion of AppleTalk Addressing

The AppleTalk protocol suite has certain features not manifest in the TCP/IP suite. AppleTalk's naming strategy and the dynamic nature of address assignment can cause problems for SNMPv2 entities that wish to manage AppleTalk networks. TCP/IP nodes have an associated IP address which distinguishes each from the other. In contrast, AppleTalk nodes generally have no such characteristic. The network- level address, while often relatively stable, can change at every reboot (or more frequently).

Thus, when SNMPv2 is mapped over DDP, nodes are identified by a "name", rather than by an "address". Hence, all AppleTalk nodes that implement this mapping are required to respond to NBP lookups and confirms (e.g., implement the NBP protocol stub), which guarantees that a mapping from NBP name to DDP address will be possible.

In determining the SNMP identity to register for an SNMPv2 entity, it is suggested that the SNMP identity be a name which is associated with other network services offered by the machine.

NBP lookups, which are used to map NBP names into DDP addresses, can cause large amounts of network traffic as well as consume CPU resources. It is also the case that the ability to perform an NBP lookup is sensitive to certain network disruptions (such as zone table inconsistencies) which would not prevent direct AppleTalk communications between two SNMPv2 entities.

Thus, it is recommended that NBP lookups be used infrequently, primarily to create a cache of name-to-address mappings. These cached mappings should then be used for any further SNMP traffic. It is recommended that SNMPv2 entities acting in a manager role should maintain this cache between reboots. This caching can help minimize network traffic, reduce CPU load on the network, and allow for (some amount of) network trouble shooting when the basic name-to-address translation mechanism is broken.

5.3.1. How to Acquire NBP names
5.3.2. When to Turn NBP names into DDP addresses
5.3.3. How to Turn NBP names into DDP addresses
5.3.4. What if NBP is broken

Next: 5.3.1. How to Acquire NBP names

Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
RFC 1906 - 5.3. Discussion of AppleTalk Addressing